Gerrit Cole

Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.

Cole played for the baseball team at Orange Lutheran High School, and was selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft.

Cole opted not to sign, and instead attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins.

In 2008, USA Today named Cole to their All-USA high school baseball team.

Baseball America rated him the 17th-best prospect available in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.

He was named the starting pitcher of the 2008 Orange County North–South All-Star Game.

After his senior year the New York Yankees selected Cole in the first round, with the 28th overall selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, becoming the first player ever drafted out of Orange Lutheran High School.

The Yankees were reportedly planning on offering Cole a $4 million signing bonus, which was above the recommended amount for the slot.

As the Yankees planned to give Cole a large bonus to sign, they waited until the deadline to attempt to sign him.

By the time the deadline approached, Cole and his family had considered many variables, comparing players who sign out of high school to those who go to college, and decided to follow through with his commitment to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on a college baseball scholarship.

Despite being represented by Scott Boras, and though the Yankees were believed to be ready to offer upwards of $4 million, Cole never negotiated with the Yankees, as he was determined to attend college.

He majored in political science with a minor in theater at UCLA.

John Savage, coach of the UCLA Bruins, made Cole the team's Friday night starting pitcher in his freshman year.

That season, Cole recorded a 4–8 win–loss record with a 3.49 ERA, collecting 104 strikeouts in 85 innings.

Cole was a member of the 2009 United States collegiate national baseball team and was named to the 2010 Collegiate National Team roster.

He competed in the 2010 World University Baseball Championship.

During UCLA's 2010 season, Cole and Trevor Bauer contributed in making the Bruins the best baseball team (51–17 record) in school history and the second-best team in the country.

Cole had an 11–4 win–loss record, a 3.37 ERA, and 153 strikeouts in 123 innings.

His 153 strikeouts placed Cole third among collegiate pitchers.

The Bruins went on to play in the 2010 College World Series, but were defeated by South Carolina in the NCAA Championship Series.

After his college baseball career the Pirates made Cole the first overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft.

Cole's statistics declined in 2011, his junior year.

He finished the season with a 6–8 win–loss record and a 3.31 ERA, with 119 strikeouts in innings.

Heading into the 2011 MLB draft, Cole, Bauer, and Danny Hultzen, who was also a college pitcher, were seen as among the best available talents in the draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Cole with the first overall selection.

He signed a minor league contract with an $8 million signing bonus, the highest signing bonus ever offered to a rookie, 15 minutes before the signing deadline on August 15, 2011.

Though he signed too late to pitch in the 2011 minor league season, he pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League (AFL).

He made his MLB debut in 2013, and was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month in September 2013.

He was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for April 2015, and an MLB All-Star in 2015.

The Pirates traded Cole to the Astros in the 2017–18 offseason.

On September 18, 2019, Cole became the 18th pitcher in major league history to strike out at least 300 batters in a season.

On December 16, 2019, the Yankees signed Cole to a franchise record nine-year, $324 million contract, the largest contract total in major league history for a pitcher.

Cole is a member of the 2022 class of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

He also is the franchise record-holder for strikeouts in a single season for both the Astros (2019) and the Yankees (2022), with 326 and 257 respectively.

Cole won the 2023 American League Cy Young Award via unanimous vote.

Cole attended Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California.

In his sophomore year, Cole pitched for the school's junior varsity baseball team, allowing no runs in 45 innings pitched.

He gained national attention while pitching for the varsity team in his junior year, as his fastball reached 94 mph. He reached 96 mph in a showcase for the best prep school talents, and close to 50 scouts attended the first game of his senior season.

In his senior year, Cole pitched to an 8–2 win–loss record and a 0.47 earned run average (ERA), while also recording 121 strikeouts in 75 innings.